Designs Of Certain Daybills Could Have Been Different.

The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957. Had they continued in business for a little while longer the history of certain daybill designs in Australia would have been entirely different. Any ideas why?

I am coming up with some more detailed information about this subject so I am holding back at the present time. I don't wish to publish a brief explanation but a more detailed one when I finally gather together information on the individual titles which includes surprisingly less Richardson Studio titles than I originally thought there would be.

The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957. Had they continued in business for a little while longer the history of certain daybill designs in Australia would have been entirely different. Any ideas why?

Hondo

It's time to finalise my findings regarding this topic.

In 1957 RKO Radio Pictures closed down their U. S. exchanges and future product was released by various distributors primarily Universal International in America. RKO signed a long-term deal with the British Rank Organisation to fulfil the administration and service aspects of RKO's foreign distribution in a number of countries. Deal did not include Australia where RKO continued to operate as in the past and released product in Australia up to 1958. When RKO then closed down their exchanges in Australia MGM took over distribution of most of their remaining unreleased product.

A further major development in the local Australian distribution scene was the agreement reached by Paramount Pictures and Allied Artists for the former company to handle distribution in Australia for Allied Artists product. RKO had previously signed a deal with Allied Artists for the Australian distribution of the company's product but this was later cancelled by mutual agreement.

This is the history behind me posting this thread '' Designs Of Certain Daybills Could Have Been Different''.

RKO Spain stayed around a lot later than most RKO foreign exchanges and they also had apparently signed a deal with Allied Artists in the late 1950s to release their product also. I have images of two Allied Artists 1959 releases released by RKO Spain with the titles being Al Capone and The Big Circus. Had RKO kept their Australian operations going up to very early 1960 the Allied Artists product that was designed by Richardson Studio and released by Paramount such as the previously posted House On Haunted Hill and The Tall Stranger would not have been designed by Richardson Studio but by different poster artists for a completely different printer. The Walt Disney product that was still being released in Australia up to the closing of RKO operations in Australia would also possibly been designed and printed by a completely different Australian printer. One can only ponder what a non Richardson designed daybill, for example the Destination 60,000 poster, would have looked like if things had been different.

Both the above daybills were printed for RKO Australia when RKO was still operating in Australia, It appears when RKO closed it's doors in Australia in 1958 the two films hadn't received any theatrical bookings. When MGM obtained the Australian rights to RKO product, they ended releasing the films and using the earlier printed RKO dayills, thus saving having their own posters designed and printed. The First Traveling Saleslady was released in either late 1958 or early 1959 and That Night! in 1959. Had the two films ended up with MGM daybills replacing these above examples one wonders what they may have ended up looking like?

Rodan! ( 1956 ) ( U.S.A.1957 ) daybill. Another RKO film first released in Australia in 1958 by MGM, using the earlier printed RKO daybill. Would an MGM daybill, had they decided to print one, been very different?

This Vintage Movie Poster Forum is powered by some old cinema posters, the flame retardant properties of a Top Gun Daybill, and a British Quad which has been folded just the right amount of times and shoved under one of the corners to stop the place from wobbling.